Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.  And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

• Exodus 34:15-16

You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.

• Numbers 15:39

I just have a short comment today.  Soon after Hurricane Ida went through New Orleans and the city was dark, there was an announcement made that the French Quarter had their power restored and people were back to work.  There were still over one million customers without power, and almost all of them were still out of work.  But the area of town known for half naked or totally naked women popping out of windows and asking customers to enter the club …  That kind of business was in full swing.

It reminded me of the time that my wife and I went to Mississippi for Katrina relief.  Everything along the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi was destroyed.  One of the floating casinos had parked itself on dry ground, on the wrong side of the highway.  Some of the structures that survived Hurricane Camille did not survive Hurricane Katrina.  The entire area was a ghost town, except for one casino on the back bay, sheltered enough to survive.  That one little spot was bustling.

I understand that to recover from a natural disaster, you must provide utilities, and someone will be first and someone will be last.  During the ice storm in northern Mississippi in 1994, we were near the last.  It made sense.  There were four or five houses on that little road, and we had heard that the power lines had six or seven breaks along that road.  You get the power back to the easiest spot to provide power for the most customers, once you have power to the hospital and schools.  Those priorities make good sense for the most common good.  Power to the department store, hardware store, pharmacy, and grocery store makes sense too.

But the reporters did not report that the hospitals in New Orleans had power nor the schools, just the French quarter.  The French quarter was notorious during Katrina.  While people were dying not far away, strippers in the French quarter were being tipped with FEMA relief checks.

I can understand that some business draws in other business, and that puts more people to work.  But there was no electricity to the hotels in New Orleans, and in Mississippi sixteen years ago, the hotels that were open were a long distance from the casino, and nearly all the restaurants were still closed.

I guess that you cannot call it “vice” when you have legalized it.  But getting the sin going in our “high places” seems to be the most important priority.  Then you add to it that God has been taken out of our government, even to the point of being forbidden words in some circles of government.

Is there any wonder why people are calling for us to repent.  It may only be the end of the USA, but the fall is coming.

As for me, I have been to New Orleans many times.  My wife loves the beignets, and she loves to shop in the old market, looking for interesting crafts.  Once, while listening to some jazz played by a street performer, I noticed that the side street where we were standing was the end of Bourbon Street.  I saw the sign, but I never looked down the street.

Let us return to God.  Repent and know that He is the Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.